Tajuddin Abul Futuh bin Muhammad
"Whoever you may be, dread to appear before him who holds the life and death of kings in his hands." - An Assassin Herald praising Taj Ad-Din Abul Futah Tajuddin Abul Futuh bin Muhammad '''or '''Taj Ad-Din Abu'l Futah, was the fourth and last Assassin Chief Da'i in Syria. He was nicknamed 'Prince of the Bedouins '''and reigned from 1240 to 1275. History Tajuddin Abul Futuh bin Muhammad, a Persian dai from Alamut, arrived in Syria in 1240 and built the city wall of Masyaf and its south gate in 1249 when the commander of the fortress was Abdullah bin Abil Fazal bin Abdullah. Ibn Wasil (d. 1298), the author of 'Mufarrid al-Kurub,' a native of central Syria, was also personally acquainted with Tajuddin Abul Futuh. An important happening in this period relates to the dealings between Tajuddin Abul Futuh bin Muhammad, the [[Chief Da'i|chief ''da'i]] in Syria and the French king Louis IX (1226-1270), who led the seventh Crusade (1249-1250). Jean de Joinville (1224-1317), the king's biographer in his Histoire de Saint Louis (comp. 1305) makes a record for the year 1250 that king Louis came in Acre in 1250 and stayed four years in Palestine after his early defeat in Egypt. The Assassin [[Chief Da'i|chief da'i]] sent the French king: "a very well made figure of an elephant, another of an animal called giraffe, and apples of different kinds, all of which were of crystal. With these he sent gaming boards and sets of chessman. All these objects were profusely decorated with little flowers made of amber, which were attached to the crystal by delicately fashioned clips of good fine gold, a shirt and a ring." The Ismaili envoys told the king: "Sir, we have come back from our chief, who informs you that as the shirt is the part of dress nearest to the body, he sends you this, his shirt, as a gift, or a symbol that you are the king for whom he has the greatest affection, and which he is most desirous to cultivate; and, for a further assurance of it, here is his ring that he sends you, which is of pure gold, and has his name engraved on it; and with this ring our chief espouses you, and understands that henceforth you be one of the fingers of his hand." The Hashashin envoys asked the king either to pay tribute to them or at least release them from paying tribute to the Templars and Hospitallers. The French however did not pay tribute to the Assassins of Syria, who continued to pay their own tribute to the Templars and Hospitallers. Desiring to procure close ties with the Syrian Ismailis, the king Saint Louis responded to their peace initiative by sending his ambassadors with gifts to the Hashashin chief. This Frankish mission also included an Arabic-speaking friar, Yves the Breton. It was in the course of his meetings with the Assassin chief Tajuddin Abul Futuh, held at Masiyaf, that Yves asked the articles of the Ismaili faith and reported back to the king as he understood. It is curious that Yves the Breton wrongly reported the king the Ismaili beliefs "incorrectly". Category:Chief Da'is